Returning veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will place new demands on the Veterans Affairs healthcare system, the Congressional Budget Office testified Wednesday.

The cost of treating veterans from so-called ongoing overseas contingency operations (OCOs) is expected to total between $40 billion and $55 billion over the next 10 years, CBO testified before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. The total depends on the number of military personnel deployed to overseas contingencies in the future and the rate of growth of medical expenditures per person.

Overall, CBO said, medical costs for OCO veterans are lower than for other veterans because they tend to be younger and in better health. In 2010, for example, the Department of Veterans Affairs obligated $4,800 per OCO patient on average versus $8,800 per patient for veterans from all eras. Still, OCO veterans' care could result in substantially higher costs in the future. CBO is currently analyzing the number of veterans diagnosed with several conditions — notably traumatic brain injury and mental health illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder — but those results aren't yet available.

About one-third of workers can get health benefits for same-sex partners, The New York Times reports.

Reuters reports that rural Americans have more health conditions and less access to doctors than city dwellers.

The Commonwealth Fund looks at the level of state flexibility in new rules designed to ensure that the risk posed by sick patients gaining coverage through healthcare reform isn't dumped on only a few insurane companies.

After taking heat earlier in the year over making money from Medigap plans, AARP announced Tuesday that it supports new limits on the plans' profits.

The seniors' lobby endorsed a bill, sponsored by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), to make Medigap plans comply with new medical loss ratio rules under healthcare reform. The MLR requires comprehensive health policies to spend 80 or 85 percent of their premiums on medical costs, leaving only the remainder for profits and overhead.

AARP endorsed the proposal, saying the Medigap supplement should be treated the same as major plans. The insurance industry says the bill would undermine a successful program.

Healthwatch's Sam Baker has more.

NIH: Proponents of funding for the National Institutes of Health don't want politicians to scrutinize each research grant the agency awards. Academics and other NIH supporters have come to the agency's defense after conservative groups criticized studies that were either funded by NIH or conducted by people who also received NIH grants for other projects.

Rescinding NIH funds based on how they're awarded "undermines the integrity of the world's premiere scientific enterprise," the Coalition to Promote Research said in a letter to lawmakers. Read the Healthwatch story.

AARP endorsed a bill Tuesday that would impose tighter limits on supplemental health plans that are often sold under the AARP brand.

The seniors' lobby backed a bill that would extend the healthcare law's medical loss ratio (MLR) provisions to Medigap plans. The new law requires traditional plans to spend 80 to 85 percent of their premiums on medical care. Medigap policies are subject to a lower limit.

"By raising the MLR for Medigap policies, Congress would create a balance between maximizing the value of health insurance for consumers and providing issuers with fair compensation for legitimate administrative costs," AARP said in a letter endorsing the bill, introduced by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.).

A healthy piece of AARP's revenue comes from Medigap plans. The organization doesn't sell the plans directly, but lends its brand name to certain policies and collects royalties in return. Republicans have attacked AARP for supporting healthcare reform, arguing that the group stands to benefit if cuts to Medicare Advantage drive up business for Medigap plans.

A coalition of researchers and other stakeholders wrote to appropriators Tuesday urging them to continue funding scientific research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and leave politics out of the review process.

The letter from the Coalition to Promote Research comes as some conservatives are clamoring for a moratorium on NIH grant-making and an investigation into the research that is approved.

"Congressional decisions rescinding funding for individual grants that have been approved through NIH's process not only undermines the integrity of the world's premiere scientific enterprise, but also the work of our nation's top scientists, and ultimately, the public's health," reads the letter to Appropriations subcommittee Chairman Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) and ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).

The administrator of health benefits for victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York City on Tuesday declined to add cancer to the list of illnesses caused by the attacks.

The decision by 9/11 Health Program Administrator John Howard provoked immediate criticism from the trio of New York lawmakers who championed the law that created the benefits. Howard is due to revisit the issue in early to mid-2012.

“The collapse of the [World] Trade Center towers released a cloud of poisons, including carcinogens, throughout [L]ower Manhattan and we fully expect that cancers will be covered under our legislation,” New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D), Jerrold Nadler (D) and Peter King (R) said in a joint statement.

Voters in Ohio will likely have the chance to vote on a measure that would challenge a key piece of the healthcare reform law.

A proposed amendment to the state constitution would prohibit the federal government from forcing Ohioans to purchase insurance. The Columbus Dispatch reported Tuesday that the amendment's backers have enough signatures to place the amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Several states have adopted anti-mandate measures, either through their legislatures or a referendum. According to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, two states have adopted constitutional amendments disapproving of the new law. Ten have enacted statutory measures, and ballot initiatives are pending in another four.

State law is at the center of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's lawsuit charging that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. But a panel of federal judges in the case was said to be skeptical of Cuccinelli's argument that a state can pass a law that conflicts with a federal law, then sue to defend it.

Virginia was the only state to get an anti-mandate statute on the books before the federal law passed.

Almost half of insurance customers would be willing to pay more for health insurance that caters to their needs, according to a new report from the consulting firm Accenture.

The firm surveyed 1,000 insured people and found that nearly 50 percent were ready to pay more for better customer service. And nearly 80 percent said they expected customer service to be easier and more convenient.

The findings are crucial for insurers competing for business as the healthcare reform law prepares to add 40 million people to the insurance rolls, according to the firm.

Legislation to allow for five more years of funding for resident training at children's hospitals soared through a House panel Tuesday despite the White House's call to terminate the program.

The Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee cleared the bipartisan bill by voice vote. The legislation isn't paid for and would have to be appropriated.

"The [Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education] program has been tremendously successful since first being authorized in 1999," panel Chairman Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said in his opening remarks. "It trains 40 percent of our nation’s pediatricians and 43 percent of pediatric sub-specialists."

Pitts introduced the bill along with the top Democrat on the subcommittee, Frank Pallone (N.J.).